Beautiful songbirds in southeast Texas

Here are a couple of bright red songbird migrants that visit the southeast Texas gulf coast. Shown above is the Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea), a neon red medium size songbird. This bird was seen in April in Boy Scout Woods in High Island Texas - southeast of Houston and east of Galveston. It was hanging out high in the trees and not paying attention to the group of people below staring, pointing and taking pictures. The colors in this photo are not enhanced - the bird is extremely red.

The next bird is a Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus), a small bright red songbird. This bird was seen at the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Texas which is just north of High Island last January as it was wintering in our area. They like open spaces and apparently don't mind people as this one was hanging out in front of the visitor center and posing for pictures. It's always a thrill and a privilege to see these beautiful birds out in nature, and it's even more fun to be able to take their pictures!